1. Field of the Invention
A method for assembling a slider suspension assembly for use in a disk drive is disclosed. A ceramic slider with an attached recording head is placed on a suspension and is held in alignment by soldering the electrical connections while the epoxy placed between the slider and the suspension hardens. The method results in a much more economical process which requires far fewer expensive assembly fixturing tools compared to the conventional process.
2. Description of the Background Art
A slider with attached magnetic recording head in a disk drive is attached to a flexible metal structure generally referred to as a suspension. The usual method of attachment is to place a small amount of epoxy to the interface between the slider and the suspension. Electrical connections must also be made to the recording head. These connections are either wires or thin metal stripes called traces which are attached to the suspension or fabricated as part of the suspension, and subsequently attached to the recording head structure.
There are several conventional methods of constructing this slider suspension assembly, also known as a head-gimbal assembly. One method, the most common, is to place the slider precisely onto the suspension and hold it there with a precision tool while the epoxy hardens. After the epoxy hardens, the electrical connections are then completed. This method has the disadvantage that precision alignment and clamping tools are needed to hold the slider in place while the epoxy hardens. Since the hardening process takes some time, there is a need to replicate many of these precision tools in a manufacturing environment resulting in an expensive process. It is. known to use conductive epoxy to accomplish both the slider suspension mechanical connection in addition to the electrical connection. However this compromises both physical and electrical connections and does not result in appreciable process cost reduction. It is also known to mount the slider using only the soldered electrical connections without any epoxy mechanical connection. This approach has the process advantage of avoiding the hardening time required for epoxy. However since solder is not a very compatible material with the ceramic slider material, additional structural elements and complexity is required. This approach results in either comprised mechanical performance or an undesirable increase in thickness of the slider suspension assembly. Technically, an epoxy connection for the slider suspension mechanical interface and a solder connection for the electrical connections work well. The main problem is the expensive process step of requiring continuous precision alignment during the hardening of the epoxy.
The invention described below is an improved method wherein the need for precision alignment tooling has been minimized.
In the preferred embodiment of the method of the present invention a slider is placed into position on a suspension in an alignment device such as an alignment fixture and an amount of epoxy is applied to the mechanical interface between the slider and suspension. Then, before the epoxy has hardened, a solder electrical connection is made between the recording head and the wires or traces on the suspension. The soldered connection is rigid enough so that the slider can then be removed from the alignment device and set aside without any supporting alignment device while the epoxy is hardening. This method greatly reduces the amount of time during which the slider suspension combination must remain in the alignment device. Thus the number of these expensive fixtures can be greatly reduced resulting in a much more economical process. In an alternative embodiment, this invention also makes the use of a robotic positioning device economically feasible for achieving precision alignment of the slider and suspension. A robotic positioning device would be used in place of an alignment device.